"Hey, what's wrong?" Wally asked, coming up to me at the end of the day.

"To get back at Josh and apologize to Rhys, I invited Rhys to the coffee shop. I'm regretting it," I said. I was definitely petty, but this was just asking for trouble. I probably should've just talked to Josh about it. This would only cause more problems.

"Oh, Five and I are going there!" Wally said. "We can be the witnesses for you. If Josh asks, we'll make sure he knows that you and Rhys didn't start making out."

"How comforting," I said. "Well, I can't just ditch out on the guy now. So I guess I'll be seeing you and Five there."

"We'll sit near on the other side so you can use us as an escape," Wally said, flashing me thumbs-up.

"True friendship," I said, laughing.

I pulled out my phone and texted Rhys that I was leaving school now. Wally followed me down the hallway and outside.

"Things don't seem different," I said after a few minutes of silence between us. "Between you and Five, I mean. That's good, I guess. A comfortable relationship."

Wally nodded, face heating up. "Y-Yea, things haven't changed that much."

"Sometimes it's best if they don't," I said.

Wally bumped my shoulder with his, an impressive action given Wally's lack of height, and offered me a smile. "Sometimes change is good, Robin. Even if it's scary."

"Alright, mom, I'll keep that in mind," I said, pulling out my car keys. "I'll see you in a few minutes. If I start making out with Rhys, be sure to leave it out when you talk to Josh."

Wally laughed and gave a short wave before heading over to his car. I got in mine and turned my music up loud so that I wouldn't have to focus on my bad decisions as I drove.

"I leave my window open but I still lock the door, so you can look in but you're not welcome anymore," I sang alone, hating how cliché I was. Sure Robin, just blast music that fits your relationship as you drive away to be petty.

I pulled into the parking lot of Donovan's Coffee a few minutes later. I got out of my car and went inside, where Five and Wally were standing by the door.

"Wow, what an unexpected surprise," I said. I looked past them and spotted Rhys at a table. He gave a small smile and got up, walking over.

"I didn't want to order anything until you got here. I just grabbed us a table," he said, glancing at Five and Wally. "Friends?"

"Hey, I know you," Five said. "Other than you be the one trying to recruit Piers, I mean. I kicked you in the ass once. You run track, right?"

"That was my ass. Yea, indoor and outdoor. Claire Zampino, right?" Rhys said.

"They call me Five," Five said.

"I, uh, heard about that," Rhys said, shrugging apologetically. "Didn't know if you were fond of it."

Five waved her hand dismissively. "I roll with it."

"I can't say I know you. Sorry," Rhys said, looking to Wally.

"I'm Wally!" Wally said, a friendly smile on his face.

"Good to meet you. I'm Rhys," Rhys said.

"These two and Piers are my best friends," I said.

"A merry band of dorks," Five said. "Anyways, we'll quit bothering you two."

We all got in line and ordered food and drinks. I paid for Rhys and followed him over to the table he'd gotten for us. Wally and Five sat on the opposite side of the little coffee shop, Wally looking over at me and offering me an encouraging smile.

"Your friends seem nice," Rhys said as we sat down. It was quiet inside, with only two other groups of people in here, a low hum of chatter in the background. "Merry band of dorks?"

"Yea, well, we're a little nerdy sometimes. Comic books, video games, superhero movies. That sort of thing," I said.

"That's not nerdy," Rhys said. "It's cool that you found a group with the same interests as you. I don't have a friend who will sit through a musical with me."

"You like musicals?" I said in surprise. He struck me as the type who played a lot of sports and called people "bro".

Rhys laughed. "Yea, I like musicals. Let me guess, you thought I was some sport obsessed hyper masculine type? It's not only certain people who can like things. You don't have to be some stereotypical nerd to like comics and superheroes, or some stereotypical drama student to like musicals. Anyone can like anything."

"You're right. You just didn't strike me as the musical type," I said.

"And you didn't strike me as the comic book and video game type," Rhys said, grinning. "That doesn't mean you can't be that type."

I looked down at the tea I'd bought, reaching out and holding the cup just to have something to do with my hands. "I'm sorry again. About Josh."

"Rocky relationship?" he asked, then frowned. "Whoa, sorry, rude of me. It's not my business."

"It's not a rocky relationship," I said. "It's just...complicated, sometimes. Josh can be a pain in the ass to deal with. He was jealous of Wally and once Wally wasn't a threat anymore he moved onto the next guy who talked to me."

"It's probably just karma for not leaving Piers alone," Rhys said, looking amused. "You don't control Josh. You have nothing to apologize for, Robin."

"Still, I feel bad," I said.

"Well, thanks for feeling bad enough to buy me some food and a drink," Rhys said. "Maybe Josh should come bitch at me more often."

"It's his specialty," I said with a sigh. "What did he even say to you?"

"He asked me when I started talking to you, then got all suspicious and asked me if I was flirting with you," Rhys said.

"And this is why I only have three friends," I said miserably. "If he ever does that again, you have my permission to drown him."

"Harsh," Rhys said and laughed. "Sounds like a happy couple."

"I'm sure I'd miss him eventually," I said. "Nostalgia would kick in at some point."

"Well, you won't find out because of me. I'm not going to drown Josh just because he's being jealous," Rhys said. "Tell him to back off, maybe. But murder is a little extreme, don't you think?"

"Give it a few days, you'll change your mind," I assured.

"I don't mean to pry. You can tell me to mind my own business and that'll be that, but why are you dating Josh if you seem so unhappy with him?" Rhys asked.

"I'm not unhappy with Josh," I said. "Look, we have our good moments and our bad moments but we manage. He's a pain in the ass and I'm a pain in the ass, so naturally we get into arguments. If things were really that awful, though, one of us would end it."

"I don't know, you think that but there are plenty of people who will cling to a relationship just because they spent so much time building it up. And sometimes people just stay together because they're afraid of being alone." He reached up and tightened the knot of his bandana. "I'm no relationship expert and I'm not trying to tell you that you don't know your own boyfriend. I'm just saying that sometimes things go bad so slowly we don't notice the change."

"But if things were bad, I'd be able to notice," I said, furrowing my brow.

"Well, take your hair for example. You see it every day, so you don't really notice that it's getting longer. But one day you'll look in the mirror and realize you need a haircut. You didn't notice it was getting to that point, you just suddenly realize how bad your hair had gotten," he said.

I took a few swallows of tea so I wouldn't have to respond to that. I got his point, but I'd like to think that I'd know if things in my relationship had really gotten that bad.

Rhys bit his lip. "Sorry, sorry, I'm really not trying to preach or anything. You know Josh better than I do."

I shrugged at him. "Don't apologize. You only have to apologize if you don't drink your tea."

He laughed and started drinking it. I looked over at Five and Wally, who were leaning over the table and talking quietly to each other. Wally was blushing heavily, and Five grinned at him and said something that made his blush somehow get deeper.

"Are they dating?" Rhys asked, following my gaze.

I nodded. "Yea, new relationship."

"So I guess the rumors about Claire aren't true," he said.

"Who knows, she could still be into girls," I said, dragging my gaze away from them. I wanted to know what she was saying that had Wally blushing like that.

"I don't get why everyone was so concerned with her sexuality in the first place," Rhys said.

"People have nothing better to worry about, I guess," I said. "Five doesn't let it bother her anymore. She's embraced her nickname and shrugs off the teasing."

"Hey, good for her," Rhys said. "So, you said you're a comic nerd. What heroes do you like?"

I mentally reigned in my nerdy fanboy reaction and pretended to think about the question. "I like Nightwing and Hawkeye. Wally and I read Teen Titans, and that's how I got my nickname."

I realized far too late by his confused expression that I had just royally fucked up. "Robin isn't your real name?"

"Well, no," I said, wishing I could fling myself into outer space never to be seen again. "But it's what I go by."

"So is Wally his real name?" Rhys asked.

"His name is Wallace, but his parents always called him Wally," I said, relieved he wasn't going to ask me for my real name.

"So all of your friends go by nicknames?" Rhys said. "That's so cool! Growing up, I always wanted a nickname. Not much you could get out of Rhys though."

"Nicknames aren't all that great. They just save you from a bad name sometimes," I said.

Rhys pulled out his phone and blew out a sigh. "Shit, sorry Robin. I don't mean to cut this short, but I have to go pick up a friend. Her car broke down."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "You drank most of your tea, so I won't make you apologize."

He tucked his phone away in his pocket and got up. "Thanks so much for this. I'm sad we didn't get to talk battle plans to corner Piers."

I snickered. "Piers will be relieved."

"Well, we can't have that, can we? Next time we'll figure out an attack plan," he said, grinning a little. "I'll see you later, Robin. Thanks again."

I waved as he left. I looked down at my tea and wondered how much bitching I'd have to endure over this.

"Well?"

I looked up as Five and Wally slid onto the bench Rhys had just left. They had their tea in their hands and curious looks on their faces.

"Well what?" I asked. "Aren't you two on a date?"

Wally blushed, but Five waved away my questions. "Is he actually nice? Everyone always says how nice Rhys is, but I'm convinced he's secretly a prick."

"He seemed nice enough," I said, frowning. "Why do you think he's a prick?"

"What, you don't know?" she said.

"Know what?" I was getting more confused.

"Have you ever heard of Strike Shields?" Five asked.

"Uh...is that a show or something?" I said.

Five rolled her eyes. "No. He's a kid from our school. Strike isn't his real name. He was a track runner. He's on the boys' soccer team, and he was their star player. But they played a really good team and ended up losing, and apparently Rhys said things so awful to Strike that Strike quit the track team and doubted himself so much at soccer that he ended up hurting his ankle."

I stared at her in surprise. "All because of Rhys?"

She shrugged. "The girls' team went to watch that game and cheer the boys on. I remember seeing Rhys arguing with Strike on the field after the game, and it ended up with Rhys walking away while Strike cried on the ground. Thought the guy was a prick ever since."

I shook my head a little. "That doesn't sound like something he'd do."

But, well, what did I really know? I'd just met the guy. Man, I trusted people way too easily.

"Maybe it was more personal than you know?" Wally tried.

"Maybe. But personal or not, he made the poor guy cry in front of everyone and just walked away from him," Five said. "I'm sure Strike was already kicking himself over the loss. If it was personal, that was a shitty time for it."

Wally reached out and pat my shoulder. "Don't look so down!"

"Yea, don't look so down, Robin! You're just using a shitty friend to get back at a shitty boyfriend!" Five said.

"Claire!" I glared at her. "Not helping."

She slung an arm around Wally's shoulders. "Hey, I'm just warning you in advance. Maybe he is a good guy who I just saw having a shitty moment. But I'd be a bad friend if I didn't at least mention that happening."

I looked out of the window and shrugged. "Maybe he did do shitty things. Who am I to judge?"

Wally pushed himself out of the booth and grabbed my arm, urging me to stand. "Five, we'll be right back."

Wally led me outside and to the side of the building. I stared at him in confusion and he reached out, slapping his palm against my chest.

"Stop it," he whispered. "Stop being so hard on yourself. You're not a shitty person, Robbie."

I glared at the ground, clenching my fists. "I am. What am I even doing? What did I come here with Rhys? I wanted to piss Josh off, but then I'll piss and moan when he bitches at me for it. I taunt him and complain when he takes the bait."

Wally reached out and forced me to look at him. "You are a good person. You're just frustrated with Josh. Please, Robin, don't let your relationship twist you into something that disgusts you. I know you don't want to hear it, but Josh isn't good for you anymore."

But what Josh and I had was a predictable relationship. If I ended that, I found myself in unpredictable territory.

"Give it a rest," I mumbled, pushing his hand away.

"No!" He blushed at how loud his voice was, but his eyes were fierce and he didn't back down. "I won't just stand here and watch you change into someone you can't stand!"

Why? Why did he have so much confidence in me? Why was he so convinced that I was a good person? I wasn't. I was petty and bitter.

I gave him a hollow smile. "Wally, you're too good sometimes."

His face fell as I turned away from him. He remained silent as I walked away from him, back into the building.

"Robin," Five said as I came back over to the table and grabbed my keys. "Robin, we have your best interest at heart here. At least think about what we say."

I left, not checking for Wally as I moved towards my car. I got inside, shutting the door and turning the car on. I gripped the steering wheel far too tightly.

I knew they only said the things they did because they cared about me. But if they kept thinking I was such a good person, I was only going to hurt them too. And now I was so petty that I'd dragged Rhys into my drama too. Some good guy I was. Wally needed to stop believing in me so much. I'd only break his heart when he finally accepted the truth.

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A.N.- So, what do you guys think of Rhys? (Also, for people wondering, his name is pronounced "Reese")